Having drawn a blank on the Curlew Sandpiper at Guardbridge on Monday and having checked the weather forecast (mostly dry, still rather warm) for Musselburgh I decided to bite the bullet and make an early start on Tuesday. I would head for Musselburgh Lagoons in the hope that I could connect with both Curlew Sandpiper and the slightly longer staying Pectoral Sandpiper that had been reported there. With a bit of luck I might also get Red Necked Grebe or Black Throated Diver off the sea wall. Despite Monday's early start and a later than planned bedtime on Monday night I intended on getting out before sunrise to catch the train (leaving at 0602, and arriving in Edinburgh at 0735). I would hopefully reach Musselburgh before 0830, leaving plenty of time to see the waders and look through the birds in the Forth.
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| Arctic Skua |
I left just before 0530 for the walk to the railway station. Blackbird, Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were unsurprisingly the only birds seen. It was slightly trickier birding from the train than from the bus but additions were made - Cormorant, Rook, Woodpigeon, Swallow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Grey Heron, Starling, Canada Goose and Carrion Crow. I also managed to see Roe Deer and Grey Seal. Nothing was added from the bus out to Musselburgh but the Forth looked flat calm and with blue skies above it looked like it would be a nice day. I got off the bus at my usual stop and headed for the Esk.
House Sparrows were noted along the way, with Mallard, Canada Goose and Greylag Goose upstream of the bridge along with a mix of gull species. Walking down the eastern side of the river I spotted the first Painted Lady butterfly of the day. Magpie and Stock Dove flew past with Mute Swans offshore at the river mouth. Bar Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Turnstone and Redshank were on the mud. Common Gull was seen among even more gulls. Goosander, Wigeon, Mallard, Eider and Shelduck made up the waterfowl contingent. A few Meadow Pipits overflew before I found a Meadow Brown butterfly by the seawall. Jackdaw and Pied Wagtail were seen before I set off along the path following the sea wall.
The ducks out on the river had appeared to be mostly Eiders from my very cursory glance in their direction but a better look found that there were also a few Common Scoters and a decent number of Velvet Scoters too. Sandwich Tern and Gannet were seen fishing out over the river. A Rock Pipit, a flock of Turnstones and a pair of Grey Herons were along the rocks below the wall. I reached the track in towards the Lagoons around 0925. Coot and Little Grebe were new for the day, both being seen on the boating pond. A few Chiffchaffs distracted me as I headed up through the trees to check the Lagoon pools.
I stopped to talk to a birder and asked if the Pectoral Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper were still around and if so, on which pool. He said he would show me, so I followed him to the expected left hand Lagoon. There were a couple of birders already there trying to find the Curlew Sandpiper. I very quickly found the
Pectoral Sandpiper showing quite well and reasonably close. A bit further back I managed to get on to the
Curlew Sandpiper. Mission accomplished and it still wasn't 1000. More chatting resulted in me asking the helpful birder if he was Dave Allan (though I did actually get his name wrong - sorry again!) who I know of through Susan (and twitter). He confirmed he was and we chatted some more as we scanned the lagoons.
White Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Dunlin, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Snipe, Shoveler, Bar Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Knot, Curlew, Redshank and a Common Sandpiper were all noted. A Ruff was with more Black Tailed Godwits on a smaller pool from the right hand hide. A trio of Roe Deer crossed the pools. There were plenty of Speckled Wood butterflies seen and on my way back out to the seawall I added Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Reed Bunting. Peacock and Large White butterflies were also seen. I wandered down to the eastern end of the track where there is a long straight section. From here I scanned for Grebes finding a single young Great Crested Grebe rather than the hoped for Red Necked Grebe.
Wandering slowly back along the path I stopped to check the ducks offshore. An Arctic Skua had a go at a gull before flying towards the mouth of the Esk and landing beyond the Eider flock on the water. A few Goldfinches flew over and a Linnet landed briefly on the seawall before flying off again. A muuch more distant Arctic Skua flew upriver. I carefully checked the Velvet Scoters for the White Winged Scoter (which hasn't been seen this Autumn yet) and managed to miss a rather obvious female Surf Scoter (found on photos at home!). I found another 4 Great Crested Grebes among the Scoters. A Kittiwake flew past. As a small group of Sandwich Terns flew past a dark shape suddenly appeared from below and chased one of the birds. The Arctic Skua proceeded to give decent views as it made rather half-hearted attacks on a few other birds before heading out over the Forth.
A Meadow Pipit gave me good views by a puddle on the path and a very tame Dunlin was flushed by a cyclist and flew over the wall and down onto the slope below where it gave me prolonged views and the chance to get some good photos. At the mouth of the river there were now good numbers of Goosander along with the other birds there. Canada Geese numbers further up towards the main road seemed quite high (though I've no idea how many are normally there). I caught the bus back to Edinburgh but missed a train by 5 minutes. Thankfully the next one was only 25 minutes later and from the train back to Dundee I finally managed to add a Buzzard to the list somewhere in Fife.
A good day out with 2 year-ticks (in bold) in decent weather. Some nice photo opportunities too, though heat shimmer was an issue at the Lagoons. I need to pay a bit more attention though so I actually find the likes of the Surf Scoter at the time rather than overlooking it (SPOILER : Did similar on Wednesday!).
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| Goosander |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| Greylag Goose, Wigeon, Oystercatcher, Mallard, Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull & Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Curlew |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Mallard |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Eider, Velvet Scoter |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Eider & Velvet Scoter |
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| Gannet |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper, Lapwing, Redshank, Greylag Goose, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper, Lapwing, Redshank |
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| Lapwing, Pectoral Sandpiper, Redshank |
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| Redshank & Pectoral Sandpiper |
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| Pectoarl Sandpiper |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Greylag Goose, Lapwing & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer, Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Snipe |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Ruff |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Knot |
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| Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail & Curlew |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Turnstone |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Turnstone |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Cormorant |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Mallard |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Goosander |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Velvet Scoter & Eider |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Surf Scoter |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Cormorant |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Wigeon |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Herring Gull |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
Species seen - Arctic Skua, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew,
Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pectoral Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail (& White Wagtail), Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Surf Scoter, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies seen - Large White, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Speckled Wood.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Roe Deer.
